For many older students and professional historians alike, you might find that the Salem Witch Trials are bizarre events surrounded in mystery and horror. For younger students, this topic might even be considered too disturbing. Even for those not well-versed in the knowledge of witchcraft, or those who are against it, can’t help but be drawn in by these events. In actuality, the truth behind it all may not be as mysterious as it seems. This article aims to explain the reasoning behind these events, and the role of both gender and race during this time. The Salem Witch Trials occurred as a result of pre-existing religious beliefs, lack of medical understanding within the community, racial prejudices, and gender conflicts, with women largely being the victims. Accusations of witchcraft were seen as a way of “solving” these problems, and the strict adherence to Puritanism meant that they could carry out these executions on a religious basis, with support from most of their community members. In addition, these early Americans had a strong belief that the supernatural was always at work in the world around them, which adds to their inclination to accuse individuals of witchcraft instead of coming up with a rational solution to strange events.
In order to understand why the events of the Salem Witch Trials took place, knowledge of pre-existing beliefs is needed. Historians and students understand Puritanism as a strict sect of Christianity, where individuals are thought to be pre-destined to be saved. However, none actually knew if they had salvation or not, so they strove to make all aspects of their life pure in the eyes of God. In his book, The Salem Witch Hunt, Robert Godbeer describes how in addition to these beliefs, they also believed their world was always affected by supernatural powers, and that God would protect them as long as they remained pure. For example, the family of the first to be affected by what they later deemed as witchcraft believed that it was a punishment for their sins (essentially, they were not pure enough).[1] Strangely enough, the colonists already used some forms of witchcraft and divination prior to the events of the Salem Witch Trials. Just one example Godbeer notes is the suspension of egg whites in a glass to make a kind of crystal ball.[2] The significance of this in the larger picture of the Salem Witch Trials is that these colonists believed witchcraft was very real and potentially dangerous. In addition, many who would be considered witchcraft experts within their community were women, and were seen as far more untrustworthy than men who were also considered experts.[3]
During that time, good healthcare was not widely available throughout the colonies, and if someone fell seriously ill, it was likely that they would perish. With the lack of medical understanding, many of these conditions and incidents were unable to be explained to members of the community, so they relied on accusations of witchcraft to bring them some peace. At the very least, this would allow them to process their emotions without interference from what they considered to be evil, even though watching an execution certainly was also a horrifying ordeal. One example of this kind of tragedy is recorded in the diary of Cotton Mather, in which she described the death of her infant son. Her son passed away due to a blockage in his intestines, but Mrs. Mather could not understand why her son’s intestines functioned in this way. She recalls seeing a “specter” on her porch, which she claims was the work of a witch, and that ultimately, this was what caused the death of her son, allowing her to process the tragedy properly.[4] Another account of mysterious illness was recorded in a letter from Joshua Moody to Increase Mather describing the conditions of the children of John Goodwin, a well-known contributor in their community. Nearly every child was constantly in pain, with no clear reason as to why. With the medical advancements in today’s society, their condition may have easily been identified. Instead, due to the lack of understanding, the community members declared witchcraft as the reason for their situation. Goodwin himself responds to the concerns of the community himself, claiming that this “dangerous condition was a prosperous one”, and essentially a test from God to see if he was stronger than witchcraft.[5]
The power differences between genders played a significant role in many events during the Salem Witch Trials. One of the most prominent example of this is the story of Sarah Good, accused of witchcraft in February of 1692, and later executed in late July of the same year. She was set to inherit her father’s wealth after his passing, but could not. Her husband had amassed staggering debts, and as her husband used the money to help pay it off. This not only drained her fortune, she also was responsible for any remaining debts after his passing. Women of the time were rarely wealthy, so this lost fortune was far more significant, and she was quite bitter about it. In addition, women of the time were not allowed to show emotions such as anger or extreme sadness, as it would be seen as demonic influence.[6] Reasonably, she could not shut out these kinds of emotions, and her fellow community members began to fear her. Meanwhile, unexplainable events continued to happen within the community, such as pain in children and mysterious deaths. As Sarah Good was already seen as an unstable and untrustworthy member of the community, she was accused of witchcraft. All she was guilty of was having a reasonable reaction to her financial situation, but the fact that she was a woman showing “dangerous” emotions made her an easy target. In the examination of Sarah Good, she was questioned for “muttering” as she departed the residence of Samuel Parris, the minister of Salem who had aided her son. To quote: “Why did you go away muttering from Mr. Parris’s house?”.[7] They were not even able to describe what she said, yet they accused her anyway due to it being “suspicious behavior”.
Racial prejudices also played a large part in the events of the Salem Witch Trials. Pre-existing fear of the Native Americans who lived in the area fueled these prejudices, despite the fact that the colonists themselves also used folk practices in their daily lives. However, due to the mystery surrounding the practices of the Native Americans, and the fact that they did not choose the path of Christianity, they were regarded as “devil worshippers”. Many of the wealthier members of the Salem communities also owned slaves, the majority of which were taken from Barbados and surrounding locations. These slaves were often given the last name of “Indian”, associating them with the supposed “devil worshipping” Native Americans. They also brought with them folk practices of their own, automatically making them untrustworthy in the eyes of the Salem community. One of the most well-known of these slaves was Tituba, who was owned by Samuel Parris. Originally, she was called upon by members of the community to help find witches responsible for the afflictions of Mr. Parris’s children, but this would end up leading to her own accusation not long after. Although experts like Tituba were valued in society due to their extensive knowledge on how to treat afflicted individuals and identify witches, those that needed their help in the past would be quick to testify against them due to their prejudices.[8] When Tituba was accused, due to her knowledge of witchcraft, there was no way she could deny involvement in harming children and have the community believe her. In her first questioning, she attempted to avoid her death by instead asserting that she was controlled by demonic powers. She was asked, “Why have you done it?” in reference to her actions against the children. She responded, “I have done nothing. I can’t tell when the Devil works.”, claiming that she was a victim of the Devil’s manipulation, and innocent.[9] Despite her claims of innocence, she was still imprisoned, and was not released until 1693 when the events of the Salem Witch Trials had ended.
There are many more unrecorded personal accounts from the Trials, and so many falsely accused individuals who will never have their story told. From each of the accounts that we do have of the trials though, these conclusions can be made. First, that witchcraft already had a significant role in the Salem community and other colonies, making it easy to fear individuals within their own community. In addition, tragic events and mysterious afflictions could not be easily explained or dealt with due to lack of medical knowledge. As a result, the community turned to accusations of witchcraft as an explanation and an outlet to handle grief and other emotions. Out of the individuals accused, the majority were women. As these tragedies occurred, as well as other life events leading to unhappiness, they tended to show emotions that were regarded as suspicious at the time, and community members feared they would take revenge on their neighbors. When unexplainable events continued to occur, these women were often the first to be accused. Racial prejudices are also incredibly significant during these events, as slaves were already deemed as untrustworthy by their community members due to their association with Native Americans, who they believed to be “devil worshippers”. Despite slaves like Tituba helping the Salem community with threats of witchcraft, their fear and racial prejudice led them to accuse them. Ultimately, the Trials ended due to those in the community coming to terms with the fact that they were wrong to accuse any individual of witchcraft, as they did not truly understand the events taking place. The jurymen of Salem admit this in a statement: “We confess that we ourselves were not capable to understand nor able to withstand the mysterious delusions of the powers of darkness and prince of the air; but were for want of knowledge in ourselves, and better information from others…”.[10]
[1] Godbeer, Richard. The Salem Witch Hunt: A Brief History with Documents. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2011, pg. 8
[2] Godbeer, Richard. The Salem Witch Hunt: A Brief History with Documents. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2011, pg. 9
[3] Godbeer, Richard. The Salem Witch Hunt: A Brief History with Documents. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2011, pg. 11
[4] Worthington C. Ford, ed., “Diary of Cotton Mather,” Massachusetts Historical Society Collections, 7th ser., vols. 7-8 (1911-1912), 7:163-64
[5] Joshua Moody to Increase Mather, Oct. 4, 1688, Massachusetts Historical Society Collections, 4th Ser., vol 8 (1868), 367-70; and Cotton Mather, Memorable Providences (Boston, 1689), 49-53.
[6] Godbeer, Richard. The Salem Witch Hunt: A Brief History with Documents. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2011, pg. 68
[7] Essex County Court Archives, vol. 1, no. 11, from the Records of the Court of Oyer and Terminer, 1692, Property of the Supreme Judicial Court, Division of Archives and Records Preservation, on deposit at the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Massachusetts.
[8] Godbeer, Richard. The Salem Witch Hunt: A Brief History with Documents. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2011., pg. 81
[9] Miscellaneous Collections, U.S. States and Territories, Massachusetts, Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations.
[10] Statement by Jurymen, in George Lincoln Burr, ed., Narratives of the Witchcraft Cases, 1648-1706 (New York, Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1914), 387.
How to Cite This Article:
Amy Herring, “Demystifying the Salem Witch Trials”, Digital History at USC Aiken, 2023, https://digitalhistoryusca.com/2023/12/07/demystifying-the-salem-witch-trials
Digital History 
Your post was a great read and the mention of the racial effects was something I never thought about. Last semester in American Literature we read some letters and journals from the puritans and some of it correlated with the Salem Witch Trials. I know before the trials actually began there was one lady, forget her name, who held a bible study in essence. And in it, it went against some of the Puritan belief such as Predestination.
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